


fill up two glasses

by segnoritaoso



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, let's ignore s03 shall we?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-13
Updated: 2018-05-13
Packaged: 2019-05-06 01:19:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14631071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/segnoritaoso/pseuds/segnoritaoso
Summary: (and let's dance you and me)Soulmarks, sort of.Lena ignores the signs. She's still in love.





	fill up two glasses

**Author's Note:**

> Guess who should have been doing research for a class?  
> that's right, the girl with a new fanfic.

It starts… slowly.

First, it’s just a subtle itch on the skin of your chest. Almost indistinguishable, easy to forget it was there. It happens when you’re having lunch with Kara, and you think nothing of it.

The first time you really notice it, that the itching just won’t stop, you’ve having girls’ night, until you finally excuse yourself to the bathroom to check (maybe you have a rash?) Your skin really is very sensitive to the sun, maybe you need more sunscreen.

Maybe you need to go to a dermatologist.

There’s a knock on the bathroom door, and of course it’s Kara, checking to see if you’re alright. You realize you’ve spent almost ten minutes in the bathroom, checking your chest for a mole, or a rash or anything at all that might explain it.

There’s nothing there.

“I’m fine, I’m coming out now.”

“You sure? Do you need anything?”

“I’m fine, I promise. Where were we?”

“Now it’s my turn to kick everybody’s butt at Mario Kart!” Kara yells over her shoulder. You have learnt that, more than anything, _girls’ nights_ consists of talking (telling embarrassing stories), drinking wine (or scotch, or tequila) and playing dumb games (bragging over who’s gonna win).

You have never been happier with a group of people.

With one person.

It’s Sam’s turn to host, so the drinks are only just now coming out, having to wait for Ruby’s bedtime. (You developed some sound cancelling tech for Ruby’s room, so she isn’t subjected to inappropriate conversation topics.)

It’s not long before Sam is cajoling you to tell the story of a time you got into a fight with Veronica Sinclair back when you were in boarding school. Sometimes you regret telling things to Sam.

Sometimes you love her even more for knowing them.

By the time you all drop the pretense of drinking wine and take out the whisky, you’ve forgotten all about the itching.

You’re pathetically defeated at Mario Kart. (you’re considering hacking the device so all controls except yours malfunction. You dismiss the impulse.)

“Next round, we’re playing Monopoly,” you declare.

There are only two people who have ever come close to defeating you at Monopoly. Sam and Kara. (Lex never did, you only ever played Chess and Go with him)

You will _never_ admit that Kara only came close because you were playing one on one and she was so very distracting in a tank top.

(Sam probably figured that one out.)

“We can’t play Monopoly, it can drag on for hours!” Maggie complains.

“That’s only because I like playing with my food,” you say with a masterfully raised eyebrow.

“Ooooh!” Kara and Sam call out.

Nobody really wants to play Monopoly while you’re in the room, though; so you move on and Monopoly gets pushed back for the next round.

And, please, after you bought CatCo right under Edge’s nose, there’s no question who’s the better business woman present. They tried to argue that it was unfair, but then you contested that if  _that_ was unfair, then a cop and an FBI agent weren’t allowed in any games that involved guns. You won the argument.

(never mind that you are quite the markswoman yourself.)

Most of the time, it takes more that one night to go through all the games the Danvers Sisters own, which means these are practically tournaments.

Kara always wins at Pictionary. Charades are vanished because of uneven teams. Sam is ruthless at Uno.

Tuesday night ends well past midnight and it’s only when you are going to bed in Sam’s guestroom that you remember the itching from before.

When you check your chest once again, there is nothing there.

A thought is nagging you at the back of your head, but you decide to pay no mind to it. If it’s important it will come when it must.

* * *

 

The next time Supergirl has to recue you, some men are trying to kidnap you. It’s such a pitiful attempt you sort of want to roll your eyes at them. They have you surrounded in the parking lot (which has cameras) and they don’t throw away your purse (which contains your phone with GPS). At least they’re trying to cover up their faces.

Who are they?

Five against one is not very smart to try to fight them off, so you go quietly with them, only giving them a simple warning.

“whoever you are, this will not end up well for you.”

They don’t answer.

The bracelet you’re wearing hasn’t changed color, so they aren’t carrying kryptonite, which means you only need to sit, gather information about who hired them, and wait for Supergirl to come.

You count the left and right turns and know they’re taking you to the docks. Of course they are; can’t they be any more of a cliché? As soon as they get you out of the black van, you realize why they are doing such a pitiful job as kidnappers. You’re the bait.

Your bracelet is getting warm and changing color: there’s kryptonite here. You need to locate it and neutralize it before Supergirl arrives.

If only the idiots she works with would let you in on their ridiculous operation, so you can help build Supergirl a proper suit. Just as a thank you for all the rescuing and such.

Where did they even get the kryptonite?

A few moments later you realize the pain in your chest goes beyond being worried about Supergirl coming here unaware. The skin of your chest is burning, right where the itch was last week.

You realize you haven’t seen Kara since that day and you promise yourself that the first thing you’ll do when you get out of this is call her.

As soon as that thought enters your head, the world becomes a blur, there are familiar arms around you, a broken pair of cuffs and you’re six blocks away from the warehouse they were holding you in.

“Stay here, I’ll be right back,”

“They have kryptonite!” you warn her before you realize the place is surrounded by black ops agents, Alex among them.

“I’ll be careful,” she says, right before disappearing inside.

It’s only a few minutes before it’s all over, minutes where your heart is pounding away in your chest.

 

"Are you alright? did they hurt you?" Alex asks once it's all over.

"I'm okay."

"Can you tell me what happened?" She asks, softly and concerned, like Lex would have before you lost him. So you tell her about the parking lot and your bracelet and realizing it was a set up. 

"Don't worry, after you told Supergirl, J'onn took care of the kryptonite so the rest of us could clean up the house. There were seven in total." You sigh, relieved. Alex hugs you, which comes as a surprise but a welcome one. "You did good today and it doesn't look like you need medical attention. You're free to leave."

She pats you on the back.

After Alex takes your statement, J’onn assures Supergirl you’re good for going home, if you wish to do so.

“May I ask you a question?” you say, standing besides Supergirl as you both watch the agents bag and tag the scene.

“Sure”

“How did you know I was in need of rescuing?” Supergirl looks startled for a second before she composes herself. “There’s no way you knew I was missing; it was less than an hour. I wasn’t on the phone with Kara this time, so how did you know?” A pause “Are you keeping tabs on me?”

“I’m not… though maybe I should start, don’t you think?” Supergirl laughs, as if this was funny somehow.

“You’re avoiding the question. Aren’t you gonna tell me?”

“Maybe I will, later. I’m just glad you’re okay.”

Supergirl offers you a ride home and you can’t refuse. Between that and a car full of armed agents, is not like you need convincing.

“I think one of these days we should go out for some coffee,” you say once you're safely on your balcony, “it’s not fair that every time I see you is because my life is in danger.”

“But miss Luthor, when _isn’t_ your life in danger?”

“Touché,” you smile, “is that a no?”

“that is a _I’ll think about it_.”

Supergirl waves goodbye at you as she’s leaving, like dork.

 

As soon as you close the balcony window, you call Kara.

“Hey you! Don’t tell me you’re only now getting home from work!”

“I promise I left at least three hours ago. I just got a little bit kidnapped on the way, but I’m okay now.”

“You were what? Do you need me to come over?” Kara asks and offers on the same breath.

“Is not necessary, I’m fine.” You smile at your friend’s concern, “Supergirl came for me immediately, I don’t even know how she knew I was in trouble so soon.” You laugh because, yeah, that’s your life now. “I just wanted to let you know, so you didn’t find out on the papers tomorrow.”

“Well, thank you,” she says, somewhat sarcastically, “Were you really scared, are you sure you don’t want me to come over?”

“It’s late, Kara, I’m fine,” you assure her, “they were amateurs and they only really wanted me to serve as bait for Supergirl, is her we should be worried about, really.” It does concern you, the fact that people know you are a useful bait for the kryptonian. You really need to do something about the kryptonite.

“She can take care of herself.”

“So can I.”

“I’m not saying you can’t! I just… I worry.” You feel a fleeting burn on your chest as you hear this, like a fresh burn under cold water.

“I know. Thank you for worrying.”

“Anytime.”

“Goodnight, Kara.”

“Goodnight.”

 

You take a shower to get rid of a day’s worth of stress (and also the feeling of the van and warehouse you were taken), but afterwards, when you’re standing in front of the bathroom mirror as you dry yourself up, you notice something… strange, on the skin of your chest, right above your heart.

Your eyes widen as you realize… but no, you were not planning for this, this was a pipe dream from when you were a little girl, it can’t be real. You scrub yourself a bit more but no, the marks are still there, faint and just barely, but undeniably _there_.

You can’t quite recognize what they say, they look more like random lines than actual words but it’s only a matter of time.

Names are only supposed to appear on your skin if you fall in love, and as far as you’re concerned, you haven’t fallen in love, you aren’t _falling_ in love  anybody. They are supposed to turn white if you fall out of love, but that hasn’t happened to you either: _you’ve never been in love_.

Wait.

If you’ve never been in love, how are you supposed to recognize the feeling?

It’s only been a few months since you changed cities, you’ve met so many new people, any of which may be it.

Your skin is red because of how hard you scrubbed it, and the lines look white in contrast.

At the back of your head, you know there’s only one option. Practically the only person you see outside of work, that you go out of your way to see every week and make sure to at least talk to every day.

Is not fair. Not when you’re sure the marks will end up in gray instead of real colors. Colors that nobody can agree on what they mean, _except_ for gray, which everyone knows means your love is unrequited. Some say different colors mean different kinds of love or how deeply in love you are, but there is evidence that sometimes the writing changes color over time. Some say that depends on how _in tune_ you and the person you love are. You stop yourself before you go through everything you read on the subject when you were a teenager, so sure it would never happen to you.

And then you met Jack and you had your fears confirmed: you were just incapable of loving. If you didn’t feel that for Jack, who could you feel it for? Apparently, all it takes is unwavering faith and a dazzling smile.

The name of the person that you love, on display for the world to see.

Wil you even be able to _wear_ half of your wardrobe without showing it? Concealer. First thing tomorrow, you’ll ask Jess to go get you some water proof concealer.

You put on your pajamas and you go to bed. As you lie there, waiting for sleep to take you, you realize what the itching and the pain from earlier meant. It’s been a few weeks on the making, then.

 _Just please don’t let it be gray_ , you think as you’re drifting off to sleep.

* * *

 

You’re not really surprised when, next morning, Kara is all but waiting for you at the elevator’s doors. You’d roll your eyes if it weren’t for the butterflies you’ve rudely been made aware of.

She hugs you before saying hello, and for a few blessed seconds, the entire world is reduced to the two of you. It doesn’t last long, as James clears his throat, obviously trying to remind you that there are, in fact, other people in the room.

As you separate, you realize the entire floor is looking at you both. It takes your entire training as a Luthor not to react and just arc and eyebrow as if you’re in control of the situation.

“James, can you have the head of security meet me as soon as possible? We need an upgrade. I want to know how they even got inside the building.”

“Jess already sent the report for you,” Kara says before James reacts, “and head of security is waiting for you at James’ office.” She picks a folder from her desk and hands it over to you, “she already left for L-Corp, and says there’s coffee waiting for you, if you were to drop by later today.”

“Jess is like a superhero,” you say, chuckling. To your eternal amusement, Kara looks… well, grumpy. “You’re still my favorite, though.”

Kara blushes, which was the point. Half the screens to be seen around on the floor are reporting your kidnapping and prompt rescue, which was to be expected considering the many cameras that followed Supergirl everywhere.

The knowledge doesn’t make it any less annoying.

 

After meetings were done, you meet with Kara for a late lunch, the first quiet moment you have had since she hugged you. Kara brings lunch to your office and you sit at the balcony. Just a regular lunch date for you two.

“So I’ve been thinking,” you say once she finishes setting the table, “you know how a few weeks ago I made this bracelet to detect if there’s kryptonite around?” you wave your hand to show it to Kara.

“yeah, I think you told me.”

“Because I was thinking, do you know if Supergirl has something similar? Or something that helps her when there’s kryptonite around?”

“She had something, but it broke.” Kara sighs, “I think it was for the Metallo incident? I believe they haven’t fixed it yet.”

“What do you think she would say if I were to make something for her?”

When Kara hesitates, you continue, “Just, as a thank you. For all the times she has rescued me.”

“I think that’d be amazing, Lena.” Kara says, “I think you’re amazing.”

You can’t do anything about the fluttering of your heart or the tingles running across your chest, but you can pretend it’s nothing and you _have_ to get used to it.

The alternative is saying goodbye to Kara.

And you’re just not capable of that.

**Author's Note:**

> I make no promises as to when I'll have chapter 2.


End file.
